When I started undergrad, I was a pre-med biology major. I had done all the research pertaining to this and what was required for the career I apparently wanted. I had told my friends, family, and everyone else I knew exactly what my plans were, which meant I had a lot of eyes on my journey going forward. Everything changed, however, when I found anthropology. I took an intro class my freshmen year and instantly fell in love with it. Initially I took it as a humanities credit, but now it is my passion. At that time, I was afraid to throw away all the plans I had made before attending college. I decided to obtain a minor in anthropology—a safe route, and one that was easier to explain to everyone back at home. However, life is all about unexpected challenges arising.

The first semester of my sophomore year I took organic chemistry, which would become one of the biggest challenges of my life. It is a hard class and I am a hard worker. However, something just felt wrong. I could not grasp the subject, no matter how I tried. Soon my academic anguish bled into the rest of my life. I never had time for me because I had to spend every waking moment pushing myself to get a passing grade, which ultimately did not work. I tried many different methods of learning, each failure leaving me feeling more and more defeated. I was contemplating dropping out of college and giving up entirely.

I do not tell you about my experience here as a sob story. Rather, finding anthropology has become a point of strength and courage in my life. After some self-reflection, I realized how much I wanted to pursue this field of study. Anthropology was the only class I felt comfortable walking into. I even raised my hand to answer questions, something you would never catch me doing in any other class. I looked forward to the lectures and found the assigned readings (which were often long and filled with scientific jargon) fascinating. I did not mind if it took me three hours to read one research article. Anthropology became a part of my life that constantly absorbed me and I felt the desire to learn more and more.

This realization brings me to the next part of my experience. At the time, the idea of changing my major to anthropology and throwing away all my previous plans was terrifying. To my friends and family I felt I would appear unable to face academic challenges. It did not help that I was surrounded by pre-med and pre-vet students at college, since I made all my friends in classes that we had taken together. I worried how they would view me if I moved to a field of study none of them knew. I think my mindset changed the moment I decided to do what was best for me. I brought it up one night on FaceTime with my friends. I posed the change as a hypothetical, but my friends were excited for me. They could tell how much I loved anthropology (I was constantly telling them the cool stuff I learned) and could see the passion I had for it. Next, I told my sister, who immediately suggested changing my major. She said that she had never heard me talk about something with such pride. Even my pre-med friends at college were excited for me because they knew that it was where I excelled.

Through this experience, I realized that I doubted myself much more than the people who love me. I believe that just because I changed my mind, it did not mean I was giving up or that I was a failure. In fact, it took an immense amount of bravery to make that decision. I understand that now better than I did before.

As for anthropology, I think it is such an underrated field of study. I think it can scare people away because it is unfamiliar to many and does not have conventional career paths associated with it. While it was scary knowing that the important people in my life may not have understood my decision, I did not let that stop me.

I am going into my junior year of college in the fall. Majoring in anthropology was one of the hardest but best decisions of my life. It was not hard because I was conflicted, but because I was worried about what others would think. I am not scared anymore. Connecting with my professors in the anthropology department and through other networks has been incredibly insightful because they are able to offer experienced advice one-on-one. Those relationships have given me the confidence I need to go forward. I love it when I tell people my major and they ask me “What’s anthropology?” Then I get to share something that I am passionate about, while also reminding myself of the confidence I displayed in making the choice I did.

The post What does it take to major in anthropology? appeared first on The Anthropology Career Readiness Network.